Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Such is life

"Well may we say 'God save the Queen', because nothing will save the Governor-general."

- Gough Whitlam

The eleventh of November is famous in Australia for three reasons: Armistice Day commemorating the end of hostilities on the Western Front of WWI in 1918, the hanging of Ned Kelly in 1880 and the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

3 comments:

Meredith said...

Yes, but i think the song 'Gough' by the band the Whitlams only mentions two of those three :-)

gbroughto said...

Its weird how the subconscious works: I was flying back from Melb yesterday and didn't give the days significance any (conscious) thought. Yet last night I dreamt that I was talking to Gough Whitlam (who I met briefly at St Johns Darlinghurst) telling him I remember the day of the dismissal because of the disbelief of my (working class, truck driving) Dad...

byron smith said...

Geoff - that is hilarious!

Meredith - November 11 was Armistice Day / A bushranger was slaughtered and Gough was betrayed.

Because of this song, I always think of this trifecta together.